THE chair of the Harlow Reform UK has responded to a letter from a Reform voter, who has pledged their vote to the Conservatives in the May district elections.

https://www.yourharlow.com/2026/03/31/letter-to-editor-a-reform-voter-is-backing-dan-swords/

Scott Hegley said: “The above ‘letter to editor’ piece bears all the hallmarks of a Conservative-contrived ‘hit job’ or perhaps it’s just an ‘April Fools’ joke!  In any case, anonymity and a coordinated battery of ‘responses’ on the YH comments section suggests Tory dirty tricks over a reasoned debate on the issues at stake for Harlow in the coming May elections.

The Tories have, for weeks, peddled propaganda disguised as Council announcements and news making full and one-sided use of council resources to congratulate themselves. This is designed to distract from their attempt to shut Harlow voters out of the big decisions by taking full advantage of the Labour government’s offer to councils to cancel the May local elections. We in Reform UK fought the government and forced yet another U-turn, thereby forcing Cllr Swords’ to U-turn also and to hold these crucial elections.

The letter also attacks our lack of experience in local government; well we will be bringing good experience in local politics but also in real life, real jobs and real terms. Furthermore we offer new blood that is well-acquainted with the concerns of our longstanding residents. The alternative is Tory/Lab councillors who have been there too long, seeing it all as a job-for-life as they squabble with each other rather than responding to real people’s concerns in a very fast-changing Harlow.

The author describes themselves as a “Reform voter”, before rather oddly then going on to attack me out as Chair of Reform for Harlow and the Villages…I can tell readers this is a tired Tory attack line.

As the letter got personal then so will I. I live in the constituency on Harlow’s very outskirts having lived in and around Harlow for decades. I worked in Harlow for 24 years. I proudly sat as a school governor in a Harlow primary school. I have business interests in Harlow. I shop and socialise in Harlow and ALL of my three children were born in PAH and my life continues to revolve around our town. Will I be standing in May’s district elections? No. Am I entitled to care deeply for Harlow? Yes I am and do passionately.

Should voters be concerned by people who care while living a stone’s throw across the the district council boundary? Well, as Cllr Swords well knows, with Local Government Reorganisation Harlow District Council is slated to disappear in May 2028 when it becomes a part of the West Essex Authority.

Harlow’s political/council map will therefore change a lot. However, the impending changes have clearly not deterred the Conservatives from seeking to draw notional boundaries around Harlow, even metres beyond which nobody is permitted to care. This is the true nature of this narrow-minded Conservative administration.

The reason I entered local politics is because I love Harlow and care deeply for its future and trust our excellent candidates to become excellent councillors in the service of its long-standing residents. This is the choice before the voters of Harlow: a typical Tory council that sees itself as entitled to power, much too concerned with the rushed erection of glass and steel for London newcomers looking to cash in on a property goldrush; or Reform UK doubling down on the needs and rightful expectations of our longstanding Harlow residents who are tired of Tory ‘jam-tomorrow’ promises, and left having to foot the bill for extravagant, one-off entertainment events being thrown by the council to cynically divert attention from Cllr Swords’ complete contempt for the voters.

Rest assured that Reform UK will not halt the rebuilding of Harlow but ensure it works for residents, rather than for Cllr Swords and his big-money, developer buddies. Reform UK will not seize up the work of the council but will work maturely and collaboratively with those who wish to do the same.

“Harlow’s best days are to come, but only through local people having a fair say, not by the impulsive, vote-cancelling instincts of a young and inexperienced Conservative with the nerve to tell the people of Harlow what is good for them.

Let’s not allow history to repeat itself, so let’s not allow the Tories and Labour to let the people of Harlow down yet again”.

Chair – Reform UK, Harlow and the Villages